Achieving the rank of black belt is no easy task! In order to achieve your goal you need to be S.M.A.R.T! Here is a formula to help you set yourself up for success.

Specific- Know exactly what you want to accomplish

Measurable- Set check points along the way to ensure that you are making progress

Achievable- A goal should be challenging but not so far out of reach that you set yourself up for failure

Relevant- Meaningful goals align with your dreams and beliefs. They should relate to the attainment of your overall vision.

Timely- Set a date to achieve your goal. From there you can chunk it down into bite sized pieces.

This week we are focused on the A or Achievable. We have a saying in the martial arts that setting a short range goal that you believe that you can achieve. Then, once you reach it you will be able to see a little bit further. Another saying that you might be familiar with is that inch by inch is a cinch; yard by yard can be very hard. Each of us has enormous potential and most goals are attainable if we simply develop the habit of using the S.M.A.R.T. formula.

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Achieving the rank of black belt is no easy task! In order to achieve your goal you need to be S.M.A.R.T! Here is a formula to help you set yourself up for success.

Specific- Know exactly what you want to accomplish

Measurable- Set check points along the way to ensure that you are making progress

Achievable- A goal should be challenging but not so far out of reach that you set yourself up for failure

Relevant- Meaningful goals align with your dreams and beliefs. They should relate to the attainment of your overall vision.

Timely- Set a date to achieve your goal. From there you can chunk it down into bite sized pieces.

​This week we are focused on the M or Measurable. Black Belt is a long range goal; it can take anywhere from 4-10 years to achieve! The check points we use along the way in the martial arts are either colored belts or in some style, certification levels. These would be considered short to mid range MEASURABLE checkpoints to keep us motivated and on track to hit the long term goal of black belt.

That difficulty is an opportunity to get stronger, to develop character, to gain a new perspective. Anybody can fall apart; anybody can get bitter—that’s easy. But what that’s doing is wasting your pain.

That pain is not there to stop you; it’s there to develop you, to prepare you, to increase you.

In 1982, researchers aboard the space shuttle Columbia did an experiment with honeybees. They took them up into space to study the effects of weightlessness on them.

According to a NASA memo, the bees “were unable to fly normally and tumbled into weightlessness.” Then it was reported that “the bees have all gotten stationary.”

The bees did not have to use their wings, did not have to exert any effort, did not have any resistance. They just floated around.

Later they all died. They may have loved having it easy, having no adversity, but they weren’t created for that. You might say that they enjoyed the ride, but they died.

We need life’s challenges, struggles, and hardships. They make us better.​Don’t just go through the challenge. Grow through it. Learn the lesson, develop the new mindset, improve your skills, and you will come out stronger on the other side!

The correct motor programs employed in for an athlete’s training protocol are critical to the success of the athlete on the playing field. There are certain skills that require instantaneous response by the athlete without having to think. This can only be brought about by training the body and mind in concert with the tasks at hand. These motor skills are essential for an athlete to acquire, for this aspect enables them to automatically accomplish one task while devoting their focus on other movements that are more dynamic in nature. This developed, instantaneous response or instinctive technique (IT) enables an individual to respond in an automatic fashion when a stimulus is presented (Ross, 2016. p 292).A perfect example of developing a set of core movements in one sport that transfer to another are the combination of wrestling and football, especially for interior linemen. Other sports such as hockey, track, basketball and soccer can help, but wrestling contributes the most due the development of the directly transferable skills of tackling, hand fighting, leverage and footwork (Boyer, 2015). Picture a defensive tackle hand fighting, shifting his body weight to attain the best leverage against the blocker; all while moving toward the quarterback in hopes of gaining a sack or a blocked pass. If the defensive lineman had to consciously be occupied with his balance and stance, how would he be able to keep his eye on the quarterback? In our previous forum we discussed distracted drivers and how cell phones, the radio, speaking with a passenger, etc...all reduced their level of focus on the task at hand. In my estimation, how is working out any different? I must digress and state that it’s no wonder that the treadmills and steppers with the televisions and the exercise bikes with the computer graphics and such are so popular; people like being distracted. Many people would not work out is they couldn’t read a magazine or watch television, but is this the most effective means of pursuing fitness? Listening to certain types of music can actually be beneficial, but the more serious athletes pay attention to what’s happening in their bodies while training. The outside stimuli interfere with their ability to focus and improve performance (Weed, 2010). For many individuals, it’s attractive to have the ability to work out in a relatively mindlessly fashion on an elliptical trainer or exercise bike. This ability is enabled by the generalized motor program (GMP) (Schmidt & Lee, 2011, p 208). However, it’s not recommended that people read or engage in other significantly distractive activities when on a treadmill. It’s just not a safe practice. More people are injured while walking and talking on their cell phones than in car accidents for the same behavior (Stevens, 2017). The potential of rapid steps on a moving object are far more difficult to perform than keeping your feet and/or body in a stationary position while exercising.The central pattern generator allows the spinal cord, through spinal preparations, the ability to function without input from the higher centers or the brain (Schmidt & Lee, 2011, p 182). When movement does is not a concern of higher brain function, the automatic, repetitive motions are addressed by the spinal cord. This frees up the conscious mind to address more complicated tasks. An example of this might be a wide receiver running downfield to catch a deep pass. For this trained athlete, the act of running fast does not require a great deal of active thought, thus freeing the receiver up to focus on catching the ball.The combination of the GMP and the central power generator enable humans to accomplish more than one physical task simultaneously. For a practiced athlete, this provides advantages in the field of play. However, I question whether or not it’s beneficial for the general public to use while working out. Present day humans are distracted more and more, it may be better to focus on the task at hand for better performance and a means to “disconnect” from the world and become attuned to our bodies as well as our cognitions.

Punching and striking speed are tantamount to success in the competition and in the street. But throwing a punch too fast with no control will yield a wild technique that will most likely not make its mark. It behooves a fighter to have a fast punch; one certainly wants to be faster than their potential opponents! However, if the punch is fast, but does make its mark, the fighter is exposed due to the extended limb and most likely out of position to defend effectively. We are most vulnerable when we are attacking. In addition to accuracy, another important consideration is punching effectiveness. Not only hitting the target, but hitting it with an effective technique also has bearing on speed and some sacrifices must be made. There are many of those who claim that their punch is the “world record”, but as opposed to accuracy, we will consider effectiveness and real world application. As represented in the YouTube video, Best Fight Scenes Ever (2017): Ian Bishop threw 5 punches in .55 seconds or roughly 11ms per punch; DK Yoo threw 42 punches in 4.73 seconds or 112.6 ms per punch; Farid Berlin delivered 57 punches in 5.73 seconds or 100.5 ms per punch. However, upon viewing the punches, their effectiveness is suspect. If you consider the jab of Muhammad Ali timed at 42 ms (Lachmann, 2011) and the lighting speed of Bruce Lee, his fastest punch in a five punch combination was recorded at 210 ms (Best fight scenes ever, 2017). If you view the punches on the video, “Best fight scenes ever”, you will note that all but one of the fighters depicted, Ian Bishop, all threw relatively ineffective strikes. Fast, but with no power, no hip rotation and zero lock-out of the body. Even Ian Bishop was extremely close to his targets and one punch went into the next. Additionally, most of the group demonstrated very little defensive posture, so the punches have no real world application. The only two fighters that meet the criterion for deploying useful punches would be Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee. Ali’s punch clocked at 42ms, was a jab and delivered from his lead hand, and was extremely fast as well as being delivered from a useful stance. Bruce Lee’s punch, on the other hand was also delivered from his lead hand, but he traveled a greater distance. Lee’s strikes were so fast, that the filmmakers actually had to slow down the speed of the films to enable moviegoers to see the movements! Additionally, Ali actually sought out the services of Lee to make his jab quicker, a little known fact. Who was quicker? Who really cares, but both athletes demonstrated the upper limits of effective striking speed.The best way to teach a punch is to focus on economy of motion and the path of the punch. By economy of motion, we need to consider the fastest and most direct path to the target. That is a straight line. We must permit no wasted or extraneous movements, which lead into the path of the punch. All power for punching generates from the hips. So we start with the hips, go to the shoulders and then to elbow and finally the fist. The hips, as we have stated, generate the power. As we move to the shoulders we being to determine what punch we are executing and engage the lats (latissimus dorsi) as we pack the shoulder joint. Next is the elbow, and this is where many fail. The elbow shoots toward the target, thus eliminating “elbow flare” by keeping the elbow in line with the shoulder as the punch is thrown. The fist is then propelled toward the intended target as we step forward to cover distance and add more power to the punch.Paul M Fitts (19121-1965) development of Fitts Law still holds true today. We must note that in regard to the matter of speed versus accuracy the Fitts archetype is logarithmic. Fitts Law provides an inverse relationship; the higher the speed, the less accurate the technique and when higher accuracies are sought, the result is a lower speed (Schmidt & Lee, 2011, p 228). This paradigm holds true today as we can see demonstrated by the insurance rates applied to cars. Smaller, sportier cars with high horsepower engines are the most costly to insure for several reasons. They are typically driven by younger drivers who tend to drive faster and have more accidents. The faster one drives, the less reaction time they are afforded, thus the greater the chance of an accident is to occur. Fitts Law is still applicable today.There is a tradeoff of speed for accuracy and effectiveness. Through proper practice and repetition, speed can be increased and a level of accuracy maintained.

Upon reviewing the chart on, Table 9.1 A Factor Matrix, on page 307, the listed attributes used for testing and determining aptitude bring quite a few athletic skills to mind (Schmidt & Lee, 2011). The athletic skill that came to mind more prominently for me was aptitude for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). There are many factors that contribute to the potential of an athlete to become a good, or even great, BJJ practitioner. Many of the measured skills for identifiable motor abilities need consideration, such as; control precision, multi-limb coordination, response orientation, reaction time, speed of arm movement, rate control (timing), manual dexterity, finger dexterity, postural discrimination, response integration, arm-hand steadiness, wrist-finger speed and physical proficiency abilities ((Schmidt & Lee, 2011). In terms of potential success, some factors listed outweigh others. For example, factors such as reaction time and physical proficiency abilities are more important than finger dexterity and aiming; whereas if the activity were shooting, the exact opposite would be the case. When considering BJJ, on the surface would all be important to success on the mat with the exception of “Instrument comprehension”. However, when you consider training and competing with the Gi*, there is quite a bit of knowledge required in both defending and applying chokes and holds with the Jiu Jitsu Gi. I would be remiss not to consider the Gi instrument comprehension. Ability versus skill; ability is a stable, underlying trait that is not altered by practice. Skill is modified by practice and experience (Schmidt & Lee, 2011, p 302). I did notice that even though Chapter 9, Individual differences and capabilities, in the Schmidt & Lee book, Motor control and learning, did reference some environmental and situational conditions that resulted in higher athletic achievement and success; there was no mention of the “human element.” Children that are born earlier in the year have an advantage over those born later in the year, especially when it comes to age group competitions. If there is a 6-7 year old age bracket and one child is born on December 30, 2011 and the other child was born on January 10, 2010, the later child has a distinct advantage. The younger, generally smaller and weaker participant may get overlooked by a coach and/or become discouraged due to their lack of success or performance. The subject that was not broached in the chapter and not listed in the tested attributes was the will to succeed. Due to the intangible nature of will, I can understand why this factor was not reflected in the measured data. There are many, many instances where the “gifted athlete” with all of the positive attributes is surpassed by those with the will to put in the extra hours and work harder to become better, stronger and faster. Two examples come to mind; Michael Jordan and Jordan Burroughs. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team in his sophomore year and became the best basketball player of all time. Jordan Burroughs only won one high school state wrestling championship in New Jersey, and he only won by a single point. He went on to win two NCAA Division 1 wrestling titles; he went on to win the Olympics, Four World Championships and four Pan Am wrestling championships. There is a saying that I preach to my students and athletes: Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. This axiom may be applied to other aspects of life as well. Does testing tell us something about the potential for success for an athlete or an employee? The answer is “Yes.” Is it the only tool of measurement for success? I offer a resounding “No.” There are some baseline attributes that must be considered when predicting success, but standardized testing should not be the only barometer for predicted success.

* Gi: The Gi is a uniform worn in many martial arts. A Jiu Jitsu Gi is very durable and thick to withstand the rigors of grappling with an opponent. There are competitions that require the combatants wear a Gi and the Gi can be used as both an offensive and defensive weapon. There are also competitions that a Gi is not used and they are called “No-Gi” tournaments. In No-Gi competitions, the participants are not permitted to use or grab any part of their opponent’s clothing.

Age and Motor ControlGerontology is one of the fastest growing areas of study in the behavioral and biological sciences (Schmitt & Lee, 2011). This is no surprise, especially since in the United States alone, those born from 1946 to 1964 (Baby Boomers) total 76.4 million U.S. Citizens. Baby Boomers population accounts for almost 24% of the total population of the U.S. Those included in the Baby Boomer population are living longer and their needs are a growing concern. The longer and this population can stay healthy and productive, the less taxing the addressing of their needs will be to society as a whole.Advancing age lends to lower muscle mass (sarcopenia), strength and cardiovascular capacity. The rate of decline for adults between the ages of 20 and 80 is listed at 10% per decade. This is due to many factors; lower anabolic hormone levels, reduced confidence, higher rates of depression, illness and injury. However, if an individual has not sustained a significant injury or if they have not been afflicted by disease, the propensity to gain muscle mass is achievable after undergoing a 10 week resistance training regiment (Green, 2014, p 332).

One of the major areas of study is the loss of Reaction Time (RT). There are many factors that contribute to both the actual and perceived the reduction of speed of RT. Decreases in speed may be perceived because older people are more cautious. However, the most dramatic changes in RT occur in choice making process (Fozzard, J.L., Vercruyssen, M., Reynolds, S. L., Hancock, P.A., & Quilter, R.S. ,1994). Other conditions related to RT that occur in the aging population are the loss of balance and coordination. Statistics demonstrate that falls are the leading cause of death in the elderly. Focusing on strength and conditioning as well as activities such as yoga and tai chi will not only result in allowing the central nervous system to have increased information of where the body is in space, but also provide the strength to keep posture and maintain balance (Green, 2014, p 555). Yoga and tai chi also increase circulation, strength, flexibility, combat depression and one’s ability to focus (Balmaseda, 2005). The repeated motions and body awareness in tai chi and yoga coupled with the increases in strength and bone density garnered from resistance training improve the quality of life for many, especially the older generation. Even though it becomes more difficult to attain muscle mass past the age of 60 for most, improvements and gains can be accomplished. Exercise mitigates the reduction of RT and overall movement as we age and provides many other psychological and physiological benefits that add not only to the length of life but to a greater extent, the quality of life. This holds particularly true for for the aging community. It’s extremely important to maintain a regimen of fitness as we age. Many people cease engaging in activities as they get older and are relegated to looking backward on the activities that they had done previously. The best advice that I can offer is that If you want to keep doing something, keep doing it!References:Balmaseda, L.(April, 2005). Tai chi and yoga: Body and mind the eastern way.https://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/info-2005/tai_chi_and_yoga.html

Hard work, practice, and extra effort are the keys to success in everything you do. When you do just enough to get by, problems are inevitable and you never feel good about yourself.

Black Belt Champions set goals and never give up. They give 100% of their effort and energy to accomplishing the task. That doesn’t mean that you don’t have bad days or feel a little off. That happens to everyone.

The key is to show up the next day ready to do your best and stay determined to move one step closer to achieving your goal.

I have never seen anyone fail to achieve a Black Belt, but I have seen people give up too soon!

Check out this story about actor Jim Carrey’s non quitting spirit...When Carrey was 14 years old, his father lost his job, and his family hit rough times. They moved into a VW van on a relative’s lawn, and the young aspiring comedian—who was so dedicated to his craft that he mailed his resume toThe Carroll Burnett Show just a few years earlier, at age 10—took an eight-hours-per-day factory job after school to help make ends meet.

At age 15, Carrey performed his comedy routine onstage for the first time—in a suit his mom made him—and totally bombed, but he was undeterred. The next year, at 16, he quit school to focus on comedy full time. He moved to LA shortly after, where he would park on Mulholland Drive every night and visualize his success. One of these nights he wrote himself a check for $10,000,000 for “Acting Services Rendered,” which he dated for Thanksgiving 1995. Just before that date, he hit his payday with Dumb and Dumber. He put the deteriorated check, which he’d kept in his wallet the whole time, in his father’s casket.​Be sure to check out our martial arts gift package special for kids and adults on our Facebook page and website!

This is a terrific message to share during National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. Sometimes we don’t realize that the bully bullies others because they are hurting. We could make significant progress in reducing the number of kids being bullied if we could get more of the kids who are doing the bullying involved in our martial arts program. Take a minute and watch this video and see if you agree. https://youtu.be/8mmIu5IZmvE

Note: These girls are ACTORS. They are young poets from the amazing LA organization GetLit.org. They are reciting a POEM that was written by poet Gina Loring.

If you would like to learn more about how we develop confident kids with respect for self and others please visit us at www.philross.com.

How to Improve your Reaction Time: Quickness, speed and lightning-like reflexes are often terms used to describe the instantaneous response of an athlete in action. People are in awe and marvel at the seemingly instant reaction and fluid movement of certain athletes. This is a phenomenon that has been termed instinctive technique or IT (Ross, 2016). As a lifelong martial artist the reduction of reaction times has been a deep concern of mine. In competition, you may gain or prevent a score or secure an advantage; but in a self defense situation, the result may be whether or not you survive the encounter. It is a given that action is faster than reaction. So how does an athlete compensate for this? How does one develop the ability to overcome this obstacle? The most effective manner is through reduced reaction time (RT) and economy of motion. The reduction of RT is best accomplished through a combination of movement selection reduction and the repetition of gross motor skills. Finite, complicated movements add time and variables which hamper performance. Reaction time (RT) is comprised of three basic components: stimulus identification, response selection and response programming. The variables that affect time required for stimulus identification recognition are dependant upon the stimulus clarity, intensity and the whether the stimulus is visual, tactile auditory or a combination. Visual stimuli are the slowest and combined stimuli shorten the overall RT (Schmidt & Lee, 2011). Other factors such as pattern recognition shorten RT and reduce spatial trajectories. Practice and skill acquisition shorten response times and also aid in the response selection (Georgopoulos, Kalaska, & Massey, 1981), (Schmidt & Lee, 2011). The smaller the stimulus response selection the less time it will take to respond. According to the cognitive psychologist, George A. Miller, the magical number seven, plus or minus two, is a key concept. Miller’s Law asserts that humans can only hold seven objects, plus or minus two, in their working memory (Miller, 1956). So if we were to apply this notion to our practice, we’d be able to narrow the response selection, thus enabling us to reduce our overall RT. There are many aspects that affect response programming, age, movement complexity, duration of the movement, required accuracy and training, otherwise known as practice (Schmidt & Lee, 2011). In an effort to reduce RT, we would need to employ simple movements, limit the duration of the activity, and lessen the accuracy requirement as well as practice. Repeated gross motor movements reinforce these patterns. The martial art of Bando’s core weapon is a short, curved sword called a Kukri. This is the choice weapon and tool of the Gurkha soldiers of Nepal. The Bando recitation regarding the use of the weapon goes, “Practice draws, cuts and blocks. Practice steps, turns and locks, until sword frees from thought” (Ross, 2016). There is also a well known proverb by the great Bruce Lee, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times” (Ross, 2016). Martial artists, warriors, athletes, coaches, musicians, etc... all know that practice shortens the RT. In the Bando passage, the Gurkha must practice so pointed and often, that the movement of the sword is no longer in the conscious mind, but ingrained into the subconscious. There is no time to think, only react. It is not surprising to learn that Bando is based on the principles of 9’s, making the premise of the training congruent with Miller’s Law. Consider the proverb by Bruce Lee; practicing a kick 10,000 times will create muscle memory and enable the practitioner to execute the technique without hesitation or thought. When the martial artist is trained at this level, IT takes over. The axioms espoused by martial artists for decades and even centuries are proven through the experiments conducted by scientists of current times as well as the previous century. How do we leverage the combined knowledge of the science today with the proven training methods of the martial arts masters from centuries ago to aid us in reducing RT? The factors that reduce RT are practice and simplicity of movement. Gross motor skills are far superior to finite, complicated skills, especially in a stressful situation. The human mind and body will only be able to recall the “Magic number 7, +/- 2” in response to the stimuli. There are other contributing elements such as the release of adrenaline and noradrenalin (aka: epinephrine and norepinephrine, respectively) that heighten the senses, increase the heart rate and cause tunnel vision. All of these factors contribute to increasing the RT, but proper practice and focusing on a limited amount of potential responses during that practice lessen the effects of the hormonal release. All humans are subject to stimulus identification, response selection and response programming when faced with responding to an occurrence requiring a response. How we minimize our overall RT is dependent not only on practicing the skill but on how the skill is practiced. The choices of responses practiced greatly influence the speed and effectiveness of the response.